


The Middle Prince

by acciojd



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-02
Updated: 2017-01-12
Packaged: 2018-03-10 02:53:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3274043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acciojd/pseuds/acciojd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Doli, older brother of Fili and Kili, is lost to them at a very young age. This story shows the Durin's in the aftermath of a tragedy as Fili learns to be the heir to the throne and both boys realize how important they are to each other. Plenty of brotherly love in this one. Childhood flashbacks as well (because we all love young Fili and Kili).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In Our Darkest Hour

**Author's Note:**

> I've recently become a fan of AAO3, having always posted on other sites. This is one you may have read elsewhere, but I figured I'd post it here in case anyone is interested. 
> 
> NOTE: this story is complete. 
> 
> For purposes of this story, Fili is 15 (7/8 in human years). Little Kili is 10 (5 in human years), and big bother Doli is 22 (12/13 in human years)
> 
> err.... onward!

If you had met the brothers later in life, such as when Bilbo did, you probably would never have guessed it. For it was easy as an outsider to see the fierce protectiveness that Fili had towards Kili, and characterize that trait as one only an oldest brother could have towards his younger sibling.

And so, if you met the boys once they reached maturity, you would never guess that Fili was not always the oldest brother.

If you knew the brothers well and you stopped to actually think about it, you would then realize that even to this day, Fili had the character traits of a middle child. He tended to keep to himself, he didn't like to be the center of attention, and was content to watch his rambunctious little brother cause the majority of the mischief. He was a negotiator, a peace maker, and always in tune to the feelings of other people around him. Fili was not by his truest nature the leader which oldest children tended to be.

However, Fili did fill the role admirably and well enough to fool almost all who didn't know the heirs of Durin when they were younger.

See, Fili was not always the protector. He was not always the first born heir to Erebor.

Fili was not always the eldest brother.

In heart, Fili would always be a middle child. The second son of Dis and Kuvin. Kili and Fili have… nay… had an older brother.

Doli had been their everything. Older than Fili by 7 summers, he was lost to them when Fili was only 15, Kili only 10.

Fili remembers what it was like to have someone look out for him. The three brothers were an unstoppable force. They were always causing some mischief, usually with a small Kili atop Doli's shoulders. Fili had a distinct memory of Kili riding on Doli's back, treating their eldest brother as a pony. In this particular memory, Doli laughed good naturedly, and would take Kili from his back and hold him upside down by the ankles Kili would shriek and giggle and begged to be put down.

Fili often could be found trailing behind, as middle children often do. Sometimes he would feel left out for a moment or two, as Doli seemed to dote on little Kili just a wee bit more. But that moment would quickly pass as Doli would turn towards Fili, and hold out a hand for him. "Come brother, you can't expect me to look out for the little one by myself." Doli would say, gesturing towards Kili, wherever the youngest dwarfling happened to be.

Looking back, it was almost as if Doli knew Fili would one day be in charge of their free spirited little brother. Sometimes it was as if his wonderful older brother knew that his time on middle earth was limited, and he had to train Fili to fill his shoes.

Doli had very light brown hair, Fili remembered that very clearly. He did not have quite the golden hair of Fili, but it was closer to Fili's color than the raven locks of Kili and Thorin. In the summer, the sunlight would lighten Doli's hair so much so that it would become very close to Fili's. He remembered that last particular summer; Doli's hair had turned almost the same gold as Fili's. Oh how they teased baby Kili that summer. Kili would sit on Doli's bed, nearest the window, hanging his tresses over the ledge and praying that the sun would lighten his hair as well.

"Don't worry, raven." Doli said, swooping his baby brother into his arms and tickling his stomach. "One day, we will find you a wizard who can turn your hair into gold as well if you want. But I quite like you as a brunette. It makes you easier to spot, and how else am I going to find you up in a tree and keep you out of trouble." Kili would giggle then and hug his older brother; small clumsy fingers running through Doli's lighter hair.

The story referenced had happened earlier that week. Doli had recently started training in weaponry. Fili and Kili, both still too young, had been watching their older brother in practice. Fili was entranced watching his brother and Dwalin spar. It was like watching a coordinated dance. Fili was practically hypnotized by the movements. So entranced was he, that he failed to realize little Kili had strayed from his side.

When the warrior and his elder brother stopped for break, Doli's instinctual reaction had been to glance over and check on his two baby brothers. Fili remembers the grin on his brother's face, so bright it could have lit up the sky. After just a moment, the grin fell. A worried mask taking over his brothers features as Doli ran over towards him.

"Fili! Where is Kee?" Doli asked, panic now in his voice as his eyes scanned the woods nearby. Fili remembers his panic quickly settling in as well as older and middle began to search for the third of their trio.

"There he is!" Doli said, voice sharp and scared. He had spotted Kili's raven locks up in a nearby oak tree.

"Do! Fee! You can see everything from up here!" Kili's little voice yelped excitedly as he waved down at his older brothers.

"You need to come down before you hurt yourself!" Doli replied, trying to stay calm. Dwalin was watching the scene unfold nervously. If Kili made it down safe and sound, this would be nothing more than a normal afternoon for Thorin's golden trio. If he didn't… well. Dwalin didn't want to even try and comprehend the alternative.

"Come up and play with me!" Kili said, still giggling.

"I am going to come up, but not to play, Kee. It's dangerous. I am going to come up so that I can help bring you back down." Doli said before he began climbing up the tree, making his way towards the smallest Durin brother.

It took Fili a moment to realize he was now the only brother on the ground. Without even thinking of plan or purpose, he reached out towards the tree only to be snatched back by Dwalin. "Oh no you don't laddie. Let Doli get Kili, you are staying right on the ground where you belong."

Fili struggled uselessly against Dwalin's strong arms. The panic he felt at being left behind was crippling. His childlike mind could not truly grasp the fear at the thought of losing either of his brothers. All Fili could really understand was that he needed to be with them. If they were to leave this earth, he would have to follow.

The 'rescue' went simply as certainly little Kili did not feel as though he needed to be rescued. At his eldest brother's request, Kili simply threw his arms over Doli's shoulders and allowed his brother to climb back down the tree with Kili on his back.

As Doli hopped down to the bottom with Kili on his back, in that one moment, Fili remembered thinking his big brother was so brave, so invincible, so big.

In actuality, he was a mere child who had just turned 22. That was the age he would be when he passed. Doli was only a dwarfling when he was lost to them.

That winter, a plague hit Erid Luin hard, taking many souls with it. One of those souls was Fili's beautiful, loving, caring, older brother.

Fili remembered when Doli first started feeling ill. Dis had barricaded him to his room and refused to let Fili see him, for fear that Fili and Kili would contract the illness as well. At the time, Doli and Fili shared a room. Kili was still in the 'nursery' although he had out grown it and it had been turned into a toddler's room. Dis had planned on allowing Doli to move into the nursery, changing it into a room fitting for a young dwarf and allowing her eldest to have his own space. Kili would move in with Fili, of course.

However, Doli was in no rush to give up the room he shared with Fili. The two would often share a bed, Fili curled up against his older brother with Doli's arm protectively encasing him. Now that Kili was old enough to escape his "baby" room, Kili would join too, often on Doli's other side as the eldest brother would wrap his little brothers up in his arms and tell them bed time stories every night. More often that not, the brothers would asleep like that and Dis would find her three boys tangled up together in the morning hours.

When his brother first got sick, Fili would sit on a chair across from the door to the room they shared. Often ten year old Kili would sit on his lap. The two would watch the door sadly, banned from entering, as their brother failed to emerge day after day.

After a few days passed and Doli didn't show any sign of improvement, he was moved from their home to the house of healing. Fili was able to see him briefly as some of the stronger dwarf men helped him onto a stretcher and took him out of the house. He was pale, his hair dampened with sweat and stuck to the side of his face. He had not yet grown a beard.

As they moved him by Doli made eye contact with Fili.

"Don't worry, brother…." Doli said weakly as he let out small cough. "It will take more than illness to leave you as the head dwarf of the house." A series of coughs followed. Fili felt his heart tense.

He wasn't getting better, nay he was worsening. Banned from seeing his brother, Fili had taken to listening in the shadows to finding out his brother's status. Each day passed and phrases as blunt as "not going to make it" and "almost everyone who has contracted, man and dwarf alike has passed" were spoken from the healers to their uncle and mother. Dis and Thorin would be gone for hours at a time to stay with Doli. Fili knew that they probably would not be home at all if they didn't have to care for Fili and Kili.

It was when Fili heard Oin tell Dis to "make preparations" and his mother collapsed into a fit of tears, that the young dwarfling could not take it anymore. He bundled up as best he could and fled from the house in the direction of the house of healing.

He knew the place had been quarantined, but Fili was small and clever. He knew how to be unseen if he so chose. He scaled the side of the building, and snuck in through a window and into an empty washroom.

The dwarfling began creeping from room to room in search of Doli. He would duck out of sight when healers and midwives and all volunteers simply caring for the sick would come near. The building was crowded and chaotic, which allowed for Fili to also be overlooked and unseen. Only dwarves were kept in this particular house of healing, but it became evident to Fili the sheer number of victims the plague had taken. For what wouldn't be the first time, he was glad he didn't take Kili with him. He didn't want to expose his younger brother to his own recklessness.

After what felt like ages, Fili finally found his brother. He was being kept in what was once a private room, but could remain so no longer because of the number of the sick. The room was being used for a few sickly dwarves around the same age as Doli. Children were in this room. The few parents in the room, too distraught over their young ones, did not notice the small dwarfling sneak towards his brother's bed.

Fili crept to his brother's side, sitting in an empty chair which had probably been previously occupied by Dis or their Uncle Thorin.

For the first time in a week, Fili looked upon his brother. The dwarf whom to Fili always looked larger than life, suddenly seemed small and frail. Doli suddenly seemed to Fili to look like the child he was. His body was drenched in sweat, skin unbelievably pale. He looked no bigger than Fili was himself, wrapped up in as many blankets as the healing house had to spare.

Fili reached out and took his brothers hand in his. The heat radiating from his older brother's body was unbelievable.

"Mum?" Doli stirred and spoke at the touch. "Told you, go home. Get rest. My brothers…" Doli's voice was weak and raspy and it was only then that he opened his eyes and realized the hand holding his did not belong to Dis.

"Fee?" Doli said, eyes opening even wider and he struggled to sit up. "You shouldn't be here." There was panic in his voice such that Fili had never heard from his older brother before. Fili's heart was sent racing by the tone.

The struggle to sit up was too much for Doli, and he collapsed back down, squeezing his eyes shut. Fili didn't know what else to do, so he held his brother's hand. He didn't trust his voice to speak.  
"You could catch it." Doli said weakly. "Please, Fee…"

"I had to see you." Fili said, breaking his silence for the first time. "I had too. You would do the same." He held his brother's hand tighter.

Doli let out a weak laugh, but a smile graced his face for the first time in weeks. "True. But I am older, nadadith, it is my job to watch you." Doli's smile turned sad. "You must watch out for Kili now. The little one is more trouble than he understands."

"No." Fili said, knowing immediately where this conversation was going. "I mean, of course, I always look out for Kili, but you will be fine. You have to be. You cannot leave us." Tears welled up in Fili's eyes.

"I will be watching out for you two from the halls of our fathers. With Da." Doli said eyes shutting once more. His breathing was labored.

"No, please brother." Fili begged.

"I love you, Fee. You and Kili are the world. Stay strong, for him. Tell him I love him too." Suddenly tears rolled down Doli's face. "Don't let him forget me. Please. Or you. You are both so young." The tears came faster. For passing did not scare Doli, but the thought that his two younger brothers who meant the world to him might someday forget his name, well that thought terrified the poor dying dwarfling.

"Never. Never." Fili promised, tears now pouring down his own face as well.

Without ever losing contact with Doli, Fili slipped into the bed with his older brother. Fili lay, curled up against his brother as Doli breathed his last and slipped away to where Fili could not follow.

He wanted to follow, truly he did. But he could not. Kili needed him. It would just be the two of them now, and Kili needed someone to look after him.

"Until will meet again, brother, you will always be our protector." Fili whispered, kissing his brother forehead. He lay curled up against Doli's body, until the tears and exhaustion took him, until Dis and Thorin found them.


	2. Telling Kili

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fili tells Kili (title says all).

A/N: Thank you so much, my dears. I really appreciate the reviews to this story. It's my baby, and I have decided to continue with a few chapters. It will update slower than Into the Wild, but it will update. For those brotherly feels fans, I promise lots of them…

This chapter starts with a flashback. I had to do a backstory for the brothers, as of course, Doli's importance is really all in my head at this point!

Chapter 2: Telling Kili

Last winter

Kili sat happily by the side of the pond, a smile across his face. He was content, watching Doli teach Fili how to ice skate. Although he badly wanted to be on the ice with them, he knew that he would get his turn. Neither of the younger Durin's knew how to skate, and Doli promised to teach them, but he could do so only one at a time. It was always dangerous, leaving Kili by himself. For the youngest brother had a bad habit of wandering off and getting himself into trouble. However, Doli had promised that if he did not move from the spot by the tree he would not only teach Kili to skate, but he would teach him to make a snack out of the snow. 'Snow cream.' Doli had called it. And Kili was fascinated at the idea of a snow desert. There was so much snow, he would have treats whenever he wanted!

Kili tasted the white snow, experimentally. He was skeptical. It didn't taste like anything but water, but Doli had promised. And Doli never broke his promise. And so, Kili entertained himself by making snow balls, intent on pummeling his brothers when they got off the ice. He didn't move from his spot.

A crack and a yell suddenly caught the youngest brother's attention and he looked frantically towards the two figures on the ice.

Fili had been getting better and had skated out by himself towards the middle of the lake. Doli was about fifteen feet away from him, on the right side of the lake from Kili.

"STOP FILI." Doli yelled and Fili froze instantly.

The ice had cracked, but didn't appear to be breaking yet. Kili stood up, nervously watching his brothers.

"The ice isn't thick enough in the center, Fee… I need you to move slowly towards me." Doli said, voice with the illusion of calm, but not fooling either of his younger brothers.

"Do…." Fili said, voice shaking.

"That's it Fee, just look at me. Don't look down. Just look at me."

The ice was creaking and cracking louder now as Fili crept slowly towards his brother, towards safety.

Kili was standing, shifting from one foot too the next, trying to decide how he could help, but not wanting to distract his brothers by asking.

As Fili got closer and the cracks became more daunting, Doli seemed to make an instinctual decision. He moved towards the side of Fili before he suddenly turned launched himself towards Fili at full speed, ignoring the croacking ice. He grabbed the smaller dwarfling against the middle and flung both of them onto the safe banks of the lake.

Just as the brothers hit the ground the ice gave out, leaving a hole where Fili had been not moments prior.

Kili ran over to them as Doli wrapped his Fili up into a hug. "You're ok, Fee, you're ok." Doli said, comforting the shaking dwarfling. Kili took the other side, mimicking Doli and wrapping Fili up in a hug from the other side.

It took a few moments before Fili was able to speak.

"You saved me." He said, simply.

"Of course I did, nadadith." Doli said with a laugh. "That's what older brothers are for."

It took hours for Fili to leave his brothers body. He cried and sobbed into Doli's unmoving chest, refusing to allow Dis or Thorin to touch him and begging his brother to wake up.

"Doli… please…" Fili begged. "Please…" He knew, rationally, that his older brother was gone, but he couldn't accept it. Fili was no stranger to loss. The brothers had lost their father in an orc raid five years prior. Kili was too small to remember much of it, but Fili did. He remembered his Uncle telling them that their hero was not coming home. He remembered how his mother had shut herself into her room for days. How during that time, when Throin couldn't be there, Doli had become Kili and Fili's caretaker, hiding his own grief until their mother was able to return to them.

Dis, for her part, gripped Doli's cold hand, folded her hands under her head and was inconsolable. Only Thorin was without tears as he watched his sister and now oldest nephew. It wasn't that he wasn't devastated, for he was. No one would ever be able to replace the light in his life that was Doli. For Doli's birth had brought new hope to the line of Durin and new hope to Thorin. But he was a King, a ruler, and a leader. Thorin was an oldest brother. He took action.

"Dis," Throin started, growing nervous as another young sick dwarfling nearby launched into a coughing fit. "Dis, we have to get Fili home. He's exposed to the sickness here."

Dis didn't move from her position and for a few moments Throin felt something akin to panic creeping into his chest. Dis had shut down in the days after Kuvin died. She was inconsolable, refusing to leave her bed chambers, refusing to eat, and most heartbreakingly, refusing to acknowledge her three boys. It was Doli who pulled her out of it, marching into her bedroom, refusing to take no for an answer, refusing to let darkness claim his mother.

Thorin didn't know if Dis could be saved from the loss of her firstborn. He had to act.

He grabbed a withering and screaming Fili allowing the little dwarfling to pummel Thorin's chest with small fists and scream for Thorin to let him down, he screamed to let him be with his brother. He screamed for his brother.

As Thorin wrestled with the now oldest price, he realized the one point that might calm the dwarfling down. "Fili… please. We have to go home. Kili needs you, now more than ever."

Fili visibly shuddered at the mention of his younger brother as his brothers last words came back to him. 'Stay strong, for him.' He could practically hear Doli's words in his head. Fili took a deep breath, visibly trying to calm his sobs. As the minutes passed, he calmed himself down as best her could.

"Can you walk, Fili?" Thorin asked, as his nephew tempered his sobs to silent tears.

"Yes." Fili said, allowing his uncle to place him on the ground. The two walked out of the house of healing and in the direction of their home in silence. Fili's head hung between his shoulders, his eyes trained at the ground.

It was a far longer walk than Thorin remembered it being. He could practically feel the ghost of his nephew following him, along with the ghosts of Kuvin, Frerin, and Thror. Although he knew that it was nothing more than his own consciousness and his own guilt imagining them, the ghosts of his past seemed to follow Thorin wherever he went, serving as a constant reminder of how much he had lost. Thorin shuddered that he now had to count his oldest nephew among those ghosts.

As they approached the small home where the family lived, Fili came to a halt. He took a few long breaths, stealing his resolve and preparing to face Kili. 'Stay strong.' He repeated, like a mantra, like a prayer, anchoring him to reality.

Thorin watched him sadly, seeing how the child was doing his best to already fill the footsteps of his older brother. For the first time, Thorin allowed himself to picture Fili as the heir to the throne. He knew that it was not the time, but Fili would make a fine king.

Almost as immediately as he thought it, Thorin hated himself. Doli was not even cold yet, and already his concern had drifted towards the heir to a kingdom they no longer had.

Pushing back these thoughts, Thorin opened the door and allowed Fili to walk in before him. As the two entered the home, they glanced into the living room. A fire burned in the hearth, keeping the room warm from the bitter cold outside. Balin had fallen asleep in an armchair by the fire and little Kili was curled up on a rug playing with wooden horses that he had gathered from his toy chest.

When Fili and Throin walked in, the little dwarfling perked up.

"Fili!" he yelled, his dark brown eyes lighting up in excitement at the sight of his brother. Balin woke up at the dwarfling's cry, took one look at Thorin and Fili and he knew.

Before the elders could say anything Fili spoke.

"I will tell him." Fili said, with such authority that it took both Throin and Balin by surprise. Thorin nodded, although he doubted he had any say in the matter.

Kili looked around at the three dwarves in concern. His smile, radiant just moments before, fell into a concerned frown. "Fee?" He questioned, getting to his feet and moving towards his brother, instinctively moving towards the one who gave him the most comfort.

"Come, Kili." Fili said whispering and holding out his hand. Kili took it, allowing Fili to guide him towards the bedroom that up until this morning had belonged to Fili and Doli.

Fili shut the door behind him.

"Dis?" Balin questioned, once the door had been shut.

"Still with him." Thorin answered. Without any warning he collapsed into the armchair by the fire and buried his face in his hands.

"It will be worse. Worse than it was with Kuvin." Thorin said, desperately seeking counsel from his friend.

"Yes. Yes it will." Balin said wisely. "But it does no good to dwell on that now. You cannot control how your sister responds to her grief. You can only be there for her and remind her that she still has two boys to raise. Two boys to live for."

Just then Kili let out a heart wrenching scream from the bedroom and it felt to Balin as though he could feel his own heart break into little pieces.

Fili guided Kili into the bedroom, instinctively heading towards Doli's bed. He got on, and curled up in the blankets, waiting for Kili to follow. Even though Doli had not slept there in a few days, the bed still smelled of him. It smelled like pine needles and earth and it brought renewed fresh tears to Fili's eyes.

"What is it, Fee? What's wrong? Why are you crying?" Kili's questions fell from his mouth in rapid succession as he climbed into the bed and instinctively snuggled into his older brother's grasp.

When Fili didn't answer, Kili continued asking questions. "Are you in trouble Fee? I didn't tell them you snuck out. I knew you did. But I didn't tell mum or Thorin."

"Kee…" Fili started, taking a deep breath and staring into his baby brothers dark brown eyes. Fili's heart, already broken, shattered even further at the thought of taking away the innocence in his brother eyes.

"Kee… Doli's passed on. He's with papa now."

For a moment, Kili just stared back at his brother.

"No." Kili said, voice small, eyes begging his brother to say it wasn't true.

"It's just us now, Kee." Fili whispered.

And Kili's scream nearly ripped the poor blonde dwafling's heart right out.

a/n. Well there you have it. Ask and you shall receive. Please review, it means a lot to me :)


	3. What We Lost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> flashbacks and a funeral

**A/N: after some thought, this story will be a combination of flashbacks and then present time. The flashbacks to me are pretty important because they allow me to expand Doli's importance in the life of Fili and Kili. I also hope you, as readers, grow to like him as much as I do!**

**Chapter 3: What we Lost**

**In this flashback, Kili is 8 (4/5 in human years), Fili is 13 (7/8 in human years) and Doli is 20 (11 in human years).**

_Not long after their father died, Thorin moved in with Dis and the boys. It was a way for him to keep an eye on his rambunctious nephews and also allow for him to assist Dis in dealing with the loss that she had suffered. Although he would never be their father, he did want to look out for them as a father would. His presence was a welcome addition to their home._

_Thorin had taken the spare bedroom in the small home, which had originally been a study for their father. The room had been off limits to the boys as a study, and it became even more forbidden… and enticing… when it became Thorin's bedroom._

" _This is by far the best bed to jump on." Fili said, with a giggle as he did a small flip and landed on his back._

" _I know!" Doli replied, as he managed to flip and still land on his feet. "Can't do this on our beds, they are too small!" he laughed._

_Sure enough, the beds that the boys slept in were small, designed for children. Thorin's bed was made for a king. It was massive, with soft deep purple blankets that served as added cushion to the boy's acrobatics. As Doli knew from a particularly painful experience, they could not flip on their own beds as their beds were too small and they would fall right off._

_Dis's bed was a big bigger, but it wasn't the size of Thorin's. Plus, Doli would swear you could not get as high jumping on Dis's bed.  
_

" _Check this out, Fee!" Doli chirped as he flipped backwards, and landed on his feet once more._

" _Wow! That was amazing!" Fili said, before trying himself… and landing with a laugh on his stomach._

_Kili, who had been sitting on the floor playing with wooden figurines, was now watching his brothers with wide eyes._

" _Can I try?" Kili said, before reaching up towards Doli, in hopes that Doli would assist him in getting on the bed. Kii was too small to get up on his own._

" _No, Kee… I'm sorry, nadadith, but you are still too small" Doli said, voice soft, as he sat on the edge of the bed to console his smallest brother._

_Kili's dark brown eyes grew wide and tears began to form as he turned to appeal to his other brother. "Please?"_

_Fili could never resist those eyes._

" _Oh come on Doli, you are acting like Uncle. Let him play." Fili said with a laugh before returning to see how high he could jump. To Fili's delight, he realized that if he jumped with his hands up straight up in the air, he could almost touch the ceiling._

_Doli frowned, but reached out to pull his youngest brother up onto the bed. "Okay, but be careful Kee. No flips for you."_

_Kili was ecstatic to be included and began jumping wildly, all over the bed. With a giggle he landed on his back. The smile on his face made Doli forget about his hesitation._

_Twenty minutes later, the older boys were not tiring and Doli had discovered that he could touch the ceiling quiet easily if he stretched out._

_Kili's smaller legs and younger body, were tiring, but he wouldn't tell his brothers that. They were having far too much fun and Kili was thrilled to be included._

_Like Doli and Fili, Kili wanted to see if he could touch the ceiling. He took a mighty jump, but was nowhere near how high Fili made it, let alone Doli. Frowning, the 8 year old dwarfling took a big leap and tried again._

_With a yelp, he realized a moment too late that he was too close to the edge of the bed. His right foot landed on the bed, his left foot missed completely. Tripping forward, the momentum sent Kili flying into their Uncle's nightstand._

_There was a loud crash, startling both Doli and Fili out of their competition. For a moment, everything was still._

_Then Doli started yelling."Oh no.. Kili... no.. no... Kee..." Doli cried, hoping from the bed and onto the floor next to Kili in only a split second._

_Kili wasn't moving._

_Fili was a second slower as he too hoped off the bed and went to his youngest brother's side._

" _Kee… Kili can you hear me." Doli whispered, placing one hand on his brothers back and rubbing small comforting circles._

_When there was no response, Doli looked to Fili with unmasked panic in his eyes. "Stay with him. Do not leave his side and do not move him! I'm going to get Healer Oin. You understand Fili?"_

_Fili looked down at their unconscious baby brother. Kili had landed on his stomach, and was bleeding profusely from where his head must have come into contact with the edge of Thorin's nightstand. The blood was running down his face and pooling onto the floor._

_Fili whimpered and grabbed Kili's free hand. "Yes. Hurry Do… please, hurry." He begged his older brother, silently pleading for Doli to fix this._

_With a nod, Doli was off, and Fili was alone with Kili._

" _I'm so sorry, Kee." Fili whispered as soon as they were alone. "You were too small. But don't worry, little brother. Doli is going to get the healers. He will be back soon and you will be good as new."_

_Fili sniffed as he received no response from Kili._

" _Don't leave us Kili. Please." Fili cried, as tears began to run down his face. "Please, Kili, just wake up."_

_Meanwhile, Doli was running as fast as he could to where he knew Oin lived. It wasn't too far away but he was loath to leave his brothers. He had no choice as he knew he was the faster between him and Fili and they needed help immediately. His mind was racing as he darted through the fields in the quickest route to the healers home. This was such a mistake; he should never have let Kili onto the bed. He knew he was too small, his balance not as perfected as that of his brothers._

_He reached the house in panic and banged on the door._

" _What is it, child?" Oin said, pointing his trumpet towards the oldest of Dis's boys._

" _It's Kili, he fell. Hit his head. He won't wake and he's bleeding." Doli said, voice small._

_Gathering a few tools, Oin ran as fast as he could, following the prince to their brothers side._

_Doli gathered Fili into a hug as Oin began to treat Kili._

" _Fee? Do?" Kili whimpered as Oin began assessing for damage._

_Although their names were said so weakly, the two older brothers were never so glad to hear Kili's voice in their life._

_Later that night, after being scolded by their Uncle and as Kili was being smothered by Dis, Fili and Doli found themselves alone in their room._

" _I'm sorry, Doli, you were right. We shouldn't have let him onto the bed." Fili said, snuggling up to Doli, and concerned that his older brother would be upset with him._

" _Don't be sorry, Fee." Doli replied. "It's my fault. I'm still the oldest and it is my job to watch out for him….. and for you as well."_

_Doli then turned serious, looking right at Fili. "And if I'm not around, you must look out for him, Fili."_

_Fili nodded in agreement, "always."_

* * *

"No.. no… Doli wouldn't leave us." Kili cried, sitting up and making to bolt from the room. He would do as Fili did, sneak to the healing house and see Doli for himself. It all had to be a mistake.

Before he could even leave the bed, Fili grabbed him and wrapped him up into a hug.

"He didn't want too." Fili said, tears running freely down his face. "He loved us so much. Both of us. But he was too sick."

Kili's small hands clutched Fili's shirt as he sobbed harder.

"He will always be watching over us." Fili comforted, knowing he had to try and be strong for Kili.

Kili cried himself to sleep that night, wrapped up in Fili's arms, the two entwined together in Doli's bed. That first night, Fili was plagued by nightmares of a life without his brothers. His psyche was tormenting him by forcing him to watch as he failed to keep his promise to Doli, and Kili was lost to him as well. Doli had been the one constant in Fili's life, and the thought of life without him was crippling.

Fili woke up terrified, gripping his baby brother as close to him as possible and listening to Kili's even breathing. Tear tracks ran down Kili's rosy cheeks, and wet the pillow they were lying on.

From that night on, Kili and Fili shared a bed. They needed the comfort of knowing the other one was still there. When nightmares of loss would wake one brother from slumber, he would be able to see that this brother was next to him, alive and breathing soundly.

It was a habit that would last their whole lives, including when their Uncle asked them to join him on a quest.

* * *

The funeral was horrific. They buried Doli next to their father in a beautiful field underneath a beautiful oak tree.

To Throin, although it was peaceful, it was inadequate. Both Doli and Kuvin before him deserved to be buried like the royalty there were, in the beautiful solid marble tombs of Erebor.

Erebor. Thorin found himself once again cursing the dragon that took their homeland from them. If the boys had grown up in Erebor, Doli would not have fallen to the illness. The plague had hit Erid Luin because of the bitter cold. In Erebor they were better protected from chill, they had been healthier, they had better access to medicine and treatment. Most importantly, his nephews along with his people had been safer.

The first night, so late that it was now early, Thorin found himself alone at Doli's grave.

With a heavy sigh and a heavier heart, Thorin knelt down besides the stone. His fingers found themselves grasping a small wooden carving of a horse which had been left on top of the stone. With a jolt, Thorin recognized it as a toy belonging to Kili. It was Kili's favorite, given to him not a few moons ago as a birthday present from Bofur.

Thorin could feel his heart sink into his stomach as he realized that their baby Kili had left the small token for the brother he lost.

"You were too young, Doli." Thorin whispered to the grave. "One day, we will take back Erebor. Fili and Kili, your brothers, they will be treated like the princes they are. We will bring you there. I promise. You will rest in the halls of our fathers."

Thorin then turned to Kuvin's stone, older and more worn then the fresh granite of Doli's headstone.

"I'm sorry, old friend. I'm sorry I could not save him from this fate. I promise you though; I will do everything I can to look after Fili and Kili. I will not allow Dis to forget that she has two more boys to raise and I will not let the boys ever forget the dwarves that were lost so that they could live." For the first time since Doli had passed, tears began to run down the King's face.

"Doli. From the Halls of Mandos, look out for your brothers. Losing a sibling is losing part of your soul." Thorin spoke, thinking of his own lost brother. "No matter how old they get, they will always need their older brother watching out for them."

If there was any peace to be found in such a tragedy, Thorin tried his best to take comfort in knowing that Doli was not only with his father, but with his Uncle Frerin and Great Grandfather Thror as well.

"I'm so sorry" Throin whispered to no one and everyone all at the same time.

**:( Oy, poor boys. Please let me know what you think!** **Also, suggestions/prompts are welcome (if you want to see something/someone's reaction, let me know).**


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